Card breast waste saving apparatus for carding machines



s. M. HoDsDoN ETAL 2,280,911

April 2s, 1942.

CARD BREAST WASTE SAVING APPARATUS FOR CARDING MACHINES Filed March l5, 1940 W-- MMIII Invenol'a,

J'umner M'Hoddon rthurddd and Patented Apr. 28, 1942 ati UNTED STAAT CARD BREAST VASTE SAVNG APPARATUS FOR CARDIN G MACHINES Sumner M. Hodsdon and Arthur A. Tidal, Wilton, Maine 1 Claim.

i ted it falls off the feed hopper apron and caused to re-unite with the main portion or" the material as it continues on its course through the cardiug machine in the usual manner.

Briefly stated, the apparatus embodies an` endless conveyor upon which the Waste material falls ty which it is carried to the lumper roll oi the cardine machine and thence to the breast cylinder to be merged into the main supply ci wool to be carded.

The conversion oi this waste into a material asset is effected simultaneously With the regular operation of the carding machine and is, therefore, accomplished Without involving extra labor costs.

Power to actuate the apparatus may be taken from any conveniently accessible source, either from the cardine; machine itself or from some outside source of supply. As it is installed as an accesso-ry it may easily be removed from under the card breast and feed hopper apron if for any reason its use is not required or desired.

For a clearer understanding of the import of our invention reference may be had to the description found in the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing disclosing an embodiment which, at the present time, we consider preferable to other possible forins in which the invention might be carried out.

In the drawing, in which like reference characters indicate like parts in all views- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical view of the breast and feed hopper apron portions of a carding machine with a simple outline representation of our invention associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the Waste saving apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a section on broken line 44, Fig. 3;

through the agency of which the detached mate- 5 is a 'section on broken line @-5, Fig. 3;

6 is a section on broken line Fig. 3; and

Fig. l shows method ci lele bearings.

Referring to the drawing, particularly to Fig. 1 the conventional card breast parts are identit-led as follows: A is the feed conveyor or apron from the feed stock hopper, B the feed rolls, C the feed roll stripper, D the leader cylinder, E the luniper roll, and F the breast cylinder.

Located beneath the leed hopper apron feed rolls, feed roll stripper leader cylinder is an endless conveyor with an apron l preferably made or" leather. One end of the conveyor is disposed in close proximity to the lumper roll E and operates over a plain roll 2 extending integrally the full Width of the conveyor apron i.

The opposite end of the apron travels over a divided roll, or what in reality a plurality of single crown face rolls 3.

The frictionally driven roll or tube 2 has in each end a header or roll-supporting element 2a tightly secured therein. In header a shoul dered stub-shait Ll is secured by a nut lla. The shafts t, operate, respectively, in bearings 5 and 5.

The tively spaced relation on the shaft 'l the two end portions of which are iournalled in bearings 8 and il, respectively. On an extended portion of the shaft l is a sprocket Wheel it.

Fixed on a power driven shaft Ca, or it may be on any other conveniently accessible part of the carding machine driving elements, is another sprocket Wheel il, and a sprocket chain l2, making connection `between the' two sprocket Wheels, provides means for actuating the waste conveyor apron i,

To compensate for any stretching oi the leather apron l, which might cause it to loosen its frictional hold on the rolls, We provide means for taking up any slackness which might occur.

The bearings 8 and 9 have long bases, 8a and Sa, respectively, and these bases are designed to slide along the top surface of the side frames I3 and I4 when making adjustments in the tension of the leather apron l. Normally, these bases with their integrally formed bearings are lixedly secured to the side frames by bolts I5.

On the ends of the side frames are upstanding flanges l3a and Illa, respectively, and through a threadless hole in each passes an adjusting screw I6 the head of which thrusts on the outer face of the flange.

securing the adjustacrown-face rolls are mounted in rela-A The adjusting screw I6 continues inwardly and has screw-threaded engagement with the bearing with which it is associated, both bearings 8 and 9 being thus equipped.

By relaxing the bolts I and actuating the screws I6, any degree of tension may be placed on the leather apron I. To hold the bearings 8 and 9 in alignment with the side frames during adjustment operations, tongues or keys 8b and 9b on the bottom face of their base portions are provided, these keys fitting slots I3b and Mb,

respectively, all of which is clearly shown in Fig. 7

of the drawing.

In order to exclude wool waste and dirt from the space between the two courses of the endless apron I, we provide structure to close both ends of this space.

A block of wood, or other material I1 fitting this space on each side of the apron Iis supported by a bracket member I8 which is bolted to the top face of the side frame, by bolts I9.

The side frames, at each corner of the apparatus, have a hub structure with a hole 2I therein. Secured in this hole by a set screw 22 is a downstanding standard 23 the lower end of which is fixed in a floor plate 24.

Depending from the inner edge of each of the two side frames, I3 and I4, is a, flange 25. Between these two flanges and extending from one to the other are two spacer pipes 26, one thereof being disposed adjacent each end of the frame structure. The ends of the pipes are faced square and abut on machine nished pads 25a on the iianges 25. A long bolt 21 passes through each pipe and through the agency of the nuts 28 the two side frames are drawn rigidly against the ends of the pipes.

In practice, our apparatus in conjunction with the operation of the carding machine, works as follows:

The conveyor A conducts the uncarded stock in regulated amounts to the feed rolls B which deliver it to the leader cylinder D.

More or less of the uncarded stock, in passing from conveyor A to feed rolls B, is detached and falls to apron I.

The feed roll stripper C serves to clear the teeth in the bottom feed roll B and keep them in condition to pass the stock to the leader cylinder D. In this operation more or less of the material is detached and still more drops off the teeth in the leader cylinder D, in both instances the detached stock falls to the apron I. In conventional practice all of this waste drops to the floor.

Now as this waste stock which has dropped to the apron I is carried forwardly on its course, as shown by the arrow which indicates the direction cf movement of the waste conveyor, it is moved into the peripheral path of the teeth on the lumper E which picks it up and delivers it to the breast cylinder F to be merged into the regular flow of stock passing onwardly toward the breast cylinder in the usual manner.

It will be observed that the lumper roll E is placed very close to the discharge end of the conveyor apron I. This insures against passage of waste stock downwardly from off the apron, but it permits of dirt or foreign matter falling therefrom on to the fioor.

The apparatus allows the so called break between the feeding elements and the card cylinders proper to be maintained, as in conventional practice.

In actual use, over a period of several months duration, the apparatus has proven itself competent to save a substantial amount of what has heretofore been waste material.

It requires comparatively little attention, thus eliminating labor1 costs; it is so designed that it can easily be connected to or disconnected from the carding machine proper; and when in operation, does not interfere in any way with the ordinary and regular functioning of the carding machine elements.

Various modifications, or alternative forms in details of structure, may be employed in carrying out our invention, the present disclosure being simply illustrative. For instance, the waste ccnveyor might be actuated by a crank and ratchet arrangement which would make the waste feeding intermittent; but for simplicity and practicability we prefer the continuous feed, as depicted in the drawing, as this construction permits of a more gradual and even distribution and absorption of the waste product throughout the main body of the wool or other material undergoing the carding process.

What we claim is:

A device of the class described adapted for installing beneath the breast of a carding machine having a main carding cylinder, a feed-hopper apron and feed rolls thereon, comprising in combination with the lumper roll for said breast, an endless conveyor located beneath said breast one end thereof being remotely spaced with relation to said main carding cylinder and its 0pposite end so disposed beneath said feed-hopper apron that it may receive droppings of the waste material therefrom before they have entered said feed rolls, means to provide a break in the continuity of the feed of the waste material after having fallen on said conveyor and is proceeding on its course thereover, said break being for the purpose of slightly separating the line of waste material to permit dirt and foreign matter to be dislodged from the line before said lumper roll continues further movement of the waste material to the leader cylinder on its way to the breast cylinder and finally to the main card cylinder, and means to actuate said conveyor.

SUMNER M. HODSDON. ARTHUR A. TIDD. 

